by Judy Handley | Jul 31, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 212: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Date: Saturday, July 31, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 72, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
This crazy weather just bing bongs all over the place. Today was sunny but cool, especially after the sun set. At least we had sunshine during the day and no mosquitos at night.
I invited Heather and family over for dinner tonight and Ollie came early to cut Shirley’s grass and make a strawberry rhubarb pie with rhubarb Olga Mitchell gave him. Ollie is good little yard worker and is quite competent in the kitchen as well. I prepared the strawberries and the rhubarb, but he did the rest. The recipe called for lemon zest and I thought I might need to help him with that. But no. He did a better job than I would have. We had the pie for dessert and it was delicious.
Sam and Jonah leave for Scout camp tomorrow. When they return next Saturday, they leave for ten days in Maine. Ollie and Jed leave Tuesday for Maine. Ollie and I will hang out together on Monday, but then I will be without grandkids until August 19th or 20th. It will be a little lonely around here, but I have a list a mile long of things to do while the boys are away.
We all talked to Justin and family tonight via Skype. Coco had a great birthday yesterday and was still partying tonight. I can’t wait until Thanksgiving when I get to see Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco and have my whole family together for a few days.
by Judy Handley | Jul 30, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 211: Happy Birthday to Coco and Rockin’ with Ollie and Jonah
Date: Friday, July 30, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High Temp 82, Low 54 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
My youngest and only female grandchild, Coco Annabelle, turned nine today. I gave her roller blades three years ago and it was time for the next size, so that was one of the presents I sent her. The other was a felting kit and a book explaining how to do felting. Jo sent a video of Coco opening the new roller blades and she was over-the-top excited. Then Jo sent another video of her looking quite competent on those new blades. Happy Birthday, Coco!
I picked Sam up and delivered him to Olga’s to do more yard work early this morning. Then I went to get him and we, along with Heather and Jed, went to see the culminating concert for Ollie and Jonah’s week-long Rock Bank Camp at Falmouth Academy.
In only four days, fifteen kids who had never played together before, learned to play four songs: Brain Stew, Seven Nation Army, Funky Town, and We Will Rock You. We were all quite impressed. Ollie played electric violin and Jonah played electric bass guitar and they rocked us all.
Then we celebrated with a lunch from the French bakery that we ate on the library lawn. A little later, the Goldpebbles went home with me to chill for the afternoon. On the way to my house, we stopped at Walmart to do a little shopping for ‘essentials’ for Scout camp coming up next week.
It was a beautiful afternoon, but when we got to my house, all three boys just wanted to read. So, Jonah and Ollie read in the backyard and Sam read down on the dock.Sam and Jonah head to Scout camp on Sunday for a week and on Tuesday or Wednesday, Jed and Ollie head to Maine. Then the next week, Heather, Sam, and Jonah will join them. Once they are all away, it will be very quiet around. But I have lots of projects to keep me busy!
I spent my evenings right now watching the Olympics. After I took the boys home and before the Primetime Olympics began, I watched the last half of the US Women’s Soccer team playing the Netherlands. Like the last game with Australia, this one ended in a tie. But because it was a quarter-finals game, both teams could not advance. It ended in a shoot out and the US came out on top. Go, USA.
by Judy Handley | Jul 29, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 210: Making New Quissett Memories
Date: Thursday, July 29, 2021
Weather: Mostly Cloudy; High Temp 77, Low 68 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The weather yoyo continues. Last night as I was watching the Olympics, the heat kicked on. I had it set on 60 and the temperature outside was 57 degrees F. As it had been hot just hours earlier, I had all the windows and doors open and a strong wind blew the cooling air right into the cottage. I immediately shut the windows and put a blanket on the bed for the night. When I took Shadow out for his last pee break of the day, I had to put a jacket on. Then this morning, it was warm again. Well, warmer than last night.
Today was mostly cloudy and too cool for the beach, but despite the lack of sunshine, we had a great day. Jed sent a text mid-morning saying he would pick Jonah and Ollie up from Rock Band Camp today and then meet me at the Farmers Market for lunch. The Goldstones rode their dbichose Mexican, Heather had Asian, and Ollie went with a Chicago Hot Dog. Everyone but me had a apple cider donut for dessert. Jonah noted that I am just weird because I didn’t have a donut, but I reminded him that if dessert is not chocolate, I usually give it a pass. Jonah just shook his head. After the food market, we shopped the art market and then headed home. Heather and Jed went back to work and the Goldpebbles and myself headed to Quissett Harbor to make new memories.
Jed proposed to Heather on The Knob at Quissett.
When Mark and I were visiting during the summer of 2009, we had a professional photo shoot on the beach with Heather, Jed, newborn Jonah, and Sam, Justin, Jo, and Ziggy. During the summer of 2014 and 2015, Windbird made Quissett Harbor her home. Sam learned to drive the dinghy. Ollie did his first solo kayak experience in Quissett Harbor at age three. Jonah held a crab in his little hands on the beach in the harbor as the crab molted. What an amazing thing to watch. So many memories. But each summer, the Goldpebbles and I return to make new memories. Today was walk the paths in the woods and climb as many trees as possible, climb on the rocks and give Oma a heart attack, and build cairns on the beach day. Such a beautiful spot in the world to have fun on a summer day.
by Judy Handley | Jul 28, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 209: The Sandwich Boardwalk
Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Weather: Overcast AM, Sunny Mid-PM, Way Cooler; High Temp 73, Low 57 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Yes. There is a town on the Cape named Sandwich. It is was settled in 1637 and is named for the seaport of Sandwich, Kent, England. Along with Yarmouth, it holds the distinction of the oldest town on Cape Cod. I don’t know how Sandwich, England got its name, but it was not from the sandwich we eat. It was not until the 1700’s that the Earl of Sandwich supposedly ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread. I’ll need to do some more research to find out how Sandwich, England, got its name. Regardless, mid-afternoon I headed to Sandwich with the Goldpebbles to walk on the Sandwich Boardwalk that has been in place over the marshland there since 1875. The current boardwalk is going to be replaced by a higher boardwalk to accommodate the rising waters as a result of climate change. The boys had never been there, so this afternoon was our chance to experience history before it is replaced.
I have been running Camp Oma for eight years now and I don’t remember having to accommodate our activities on a daily basis due to such fluky weather. But fluky weather we do have this summer. I knew today was going to be cooler than yesterday, but when I got us this morning it felt much cooler than I expected. The hour-by-hour forecast showed some clearing mid-afternoon with the change of sunshine. So, after Jonah and Ollie were finished with Rock Band Camp for the day, we hung out at my house eating lunch and watching the Olympics until mid-afternoon. 
We then made a ‘necessary’ trip to the Dairy Queen for a little treat and then we drove to Sandwich. With traffic, it was a 45-minute drive which got us there just at 4 o’clock which meant we didn’t have to pay $20 to park as they stop charging at 4 pm. The view of the marsh from the dock was spectacular and the boys were interested in walking out to the raised bridge where kids and adults and were jumping into the water. Sam decided he would jump. Jonah wanted to, but he knew it was going to take him a bit to get up his nerve. Ollie really wanted to jump, but in the end, he decided to think about it and come back later to do it. I reminded him that there were no children his age jumping, but if the boardwalk is going to be replaced with a higher bridge, he wants to do it before that happens.
We then walked to the other end of the boardwalk that leads down to a beach on the Cape Cod Bay. It was too chilly and windy to entice the boys into the water, but they did go back and swam in one of the waterways that runs through the marsh. Cape Cod has so many special places and we decided that the Sandwich Boardwalk over the marsh is definitely one of those places.
Going backwards, Sam worked at Olga Mitchell’s this morning doing more garden weeding for her. When Jonah, Ollie, and I went to pick him up, Olga had raised the garage door so they could see her aerobatic airplane and she offered them a ride on her golf cart to go out to the hangers on the airfield. Sam had driven the golf cart out that way earlier in the morning with Olga, so she let him drive again. All three boys enjoyed the exploration of the Falmouth Air Park. Thank you, Olga.
by Judy Handley | Jul 27, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 208: More Woodneck Fun
Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 85, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The Goldpebbles and I had another great mid to late afternoon adventure at Woodneck. I picked up Sam just before noon and we went to pick Ollie and Jonah up from Rock Band Camp. We then went to my house for lunch and to watch the US Women’s soccer game against Australia. The game was on at 4 am this morning, so I recorded it to watch this afternoon. Neither team scored during the regular game time nor in the overtime. It was a disappointing performance by the US team, but they do get to advance to the next round. Then we headed to Trotting Park where Sam was supposed to meet friends at 3 pm to play soccer and celebrate a birthday while Jonah and Ollie were going to ride their bikes on the trails in the woods there. We didn’t find out until we got there that Sam’s soccer gathering had been cancelled, so we changed gears and went back to Woodneck beach and marsh. I was not dressed for swimming, and it was just too far to go home, so I was just going to have to watch. But Trotting Park is about 4 minutes from Heather and Jed’s, so it was quick to go there for the boys to get on their beach gear.
The late afternoon weather yesterday and today was just spectacular. It was mostly sunny and very warm which made staying at the beach longer than usual delightful. Today Heather and Jed joined us after work. Once they were both at the beach and I had finished collecting jingle shells, I headed home. Jed had ridden his bicycle from Woods Hole, so I took his bike home so he could come home a little later with Heather and the boys. When I got to my house, I took Shadow out for a ‘pee’ break and then I got a text from Heather. Jed had lost his wedding ring while at the beach. She left him there to look for it while she took Sam and Jonah to their 7 pm Scout meeting and was headed back to the beach. I immediately got back in my car and headed to Woodneck to help with the search. But Heather called while I was on my way and said that it would be more helpful if I went to their house to be with Ollie and to start getting dinner ready. By 8 pm, Heather and Jed still were not home. She sent a text saying a Scouting parent had shown up with the metal detector and they were going to continue to look. I went to pick up Sam and Jonah and then got the text saying they had found the ring. Fantastic! They have no idea how the Scouting parent heard that they needed a metal detector, but they were certainly very grateful. I didn’t want to stay at their house for dinner because I had been away from Shadow all afternoon and evening, so as soon as they got home, I headed home and started fixing dinner at 9 pm. Long day, but truly another wonderful Woodneck experience. The temperature is supposed to be a good 10 degrees cooler tomorrow, so our run of wonderfully warm evenings are over for now. But we made the best of the yesterday and today.
by Judy Handley | Jul 26, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 207: Woodneck Fun, Now and Then
Date: Monday, July 26, 2021
Weather: Mix of Sun and Clouds; High Temp 83, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I picked Sam up at 10 am to take him to friend Olga Mitchell’s to do some gardening and weeding. I then came home, walked with Shadow, went to the grocery store, and picked Ollie and Jonah up from their first day of Rock Band Camp at Falmouth Academy. Then we all went to pick Sam up at Olga’s. Jonah and Ollie were so excited to get to go into Olga’s huge garage that houses her aerobatic airplane and her Mercedes convertible, both of which this amazing woman in her mid-eighties still ‘pilots’. Quite the woman. The boys and I then went to my house to have ‘make your own’ pizzas (on English muffins) while we watched Olympic rowing. Ollie had a 2:10 pm appointment with the orthodontist, so we met Jed there to drop off Ollie and then Sam, Jonah, and I went to their house to get ready to go to the beach while we waited for Ollie.
Finally . . . we headed to Woodneck Beach and Sippewissett Marsh. Mark and I started taking Sam and Jonah to Woodneck in 2012 when Ollie was just a baby. My first photos of Sam and Jonah exploring the marsh were taken in 2013 and then in 2014, Ollie joined us. The boys have always used their shovels and buckets and nets to catch critters and move as much sand as possible from one place to another. Today we arrived as the tide was going out and we first went out to the beach side where the boys swam and dove like dolphins. Then we walked back to the marsh side and they started searching for critters. They caught a few green crabs and Ollie found the tiniest hermit crab shell I have ever seen, along with a very tiny crab.
Sam is going to high school this fall, but this afternoon, he reverted to the little boy who can move more sand with a plastic shovel than any other. He decided that he and his brothers should try to dam one of the outlets of the marsh to keep the water from heading out to sea and they did it! But as I watched Sam sitting in the sand and shoveling away, all I could think is, “Some things never change.” Thankfully. All of this took much longer than we planned and finally at 6:30 pm I told the boys we had to go home.
They reluctantly stopped working on their dam and decided to breach it and watch the water rush out. They were amazed at how fast the water the flowed out and even more amazed that they were able to use rocks and sand to block the flow for so long. It was another great Woodneck experience.
I invited Heather and family over for dinner tonight and Ollie came early to cut Shirley’s grass and make a strawberry rhubarb pie with rhubarb Olga Mitchell gave him. Ollie is good little yard worker and is quite competent in the kitchen as well. I prepared the strawberries and the rhubarb, but he did the rest. The recipe called for lemon zest and I thought I might need to help him with that. But no. He did a better job than I would have. We had the pie for dessert and it was delicious. 
